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Amazing Volunteers

31 Jul 2009 by Helen

Recently I have had 3 very different experiences in regards to volunteering.

The first volunteer came to the office.  Walked with me down to the classrooms, took the list and papers I had prepared for her, and got busy.  I saw her only twice after that.  Once when she came to ask me where to find something and again when she was handing me the checklist, telling me she had finished and saying goodbye.  Most people will probably never know what she did.  Most people will show up on Sunday, go to those classes, and just enjoy all she did without even realizing she did it.  What an amazing volunteer!

The second volunteer – Someone came to me saying she really want to help in Children’s Ministry.  She had seen a need the other day and knew she could serve in that capacity.    You know what it was…the need to have someone at the check-in desk to greet visitors and walk them down to their classrooms after they are checked in.  You know who it was – one of our Founding Pastors – Pastor Norma.  What an amazing volunteer!

The third volunteer was someone I watched struggle through our last meeting.  I have known this volunteer almost as long as I have been a part of  ROCK Church.  She has served faithfully and she and her husband have jumped in where ever they were needed in the church.  She told me she was really struggling with working every Sunday in her current position because it wasn’t something that came easy to her.  It was actually quite stressful for her, but she didn’t want to seem like she wasn’t doing her part.  She is getting more involved in a ministry that really is her passion but said she would be happy to be a sub!  I was so excited…not because I was losing a great volunteer, but because that volunteer was finding her true passion and place in ministry and that she was willing to still help us out when we needed it.  What an amazing volunteer!

I mean it…I feel so honored and blessed to get to serve alongside such amazing people!  In every situation I was absolutely humbled by the heart of a servant that was so evident in their lives.  Thank you Kid’s ROCK volunteers for all you do for ROCK Church!

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Category: Volunteer  Tags: , , ,  One Comment

Planning, Planning, Planning

30 Jul 2009 by Helen

These week has been the first week I have actually felt like I was getting ahead and on top of what was going on.  I spent most of the week, planning and preparing materials for the next two months.  Anyone that knows me as a teacher, knows how much that is a stretch for me.  I tend to think in the minute and those usually only be one step ahead of whomever I am teaching.  In all my years of teaching I never got ahead.  I would plan a week at a time because that is how I think.

This job requires more of me.  It means I have to think ahead, plan ahead, and prepare for what is coming so that others can plan ahead, and prepare for what I am asking them to teach in the classrooms.  Through this whole process God has really been teaching a principle….He will never send us what we haven’t prepared for! 

If we are only prepared for what we now have to deal with, He will never send us more.  He doesn’t want to send his hurting lost children to a church that isn’t prepared and ready to love them.  If all we ever do is meet the present need, then we are never gonna be ready for the harvest.  My goal is to have every classroom overstaffed, every room plan ready so that when the kids come we are prepared, ready,  and willing to serve.

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A First in Forever

17 Nov 2008 by Helen

Today was a first in what seems like forever for Johnny and I.  Today we attended church without being on stage singing.  It was strange.  Even a little hard, but it was also pretty cool to be able to sleep til 7:30 on a Sunday morning. Having said that, here were my first 2 thoughts from my experience…

  • I don’t know how people go to church week after week, year after year and simply warm a seat.  People, you need to do something.  Seriously, if that’s all I did every week, I’d be bored out of my mind or I’d pick apart everything that I didn’t like without being able to understand why things were the way they were.
  • If you are in any kind of ministry you need to take a step back, observe every once in awhile so that you can see what others see.  You might learn something.

Here’s what I learned.

  • All those times Carolyn kept telling us we didn’t look happy and we needed to move around and have fun…well, today I got it….its just like dancing at a performance, when you are on stage, your expressions, movements and energy have to be over exaggerated for them to even be realized by the congregation.
  • Working on parts is important and knowing the songs and flowing with your team is crucial, but more than hitting every right note, YOU have to worship if you are going to lead others into worship.  If you aren’t comfortable with what you are singing and are unable to worship, that is going to affect the people you are trying to lead into worship.
  • What does better look like?  If we aren’t moving and engaging the congregation enough, where are there videos of worship teams that do?  How can we get better?  What does better look like somewhere else and how can we make their idea of better our own?
  • Comfortable doesn’t cut it, this is how we always do it won’t get us there, and our best has to get better to be what God has called us to be.

The concepts God showed me today are things I practice on a daily basis with my job.  In order to be a better teacher, I reflect on what is working and what isn’t.  I record and observe my interactions, I have others observe and critic me, I visit other great teachers, learn from what they are doing and take away inspiriation and ideas that I am then able to make my own…so the question is why have I religated that philosophy to just my job?  Why isn’t that how I live every aspect of my life?  What about you, when’s the last time you took a step back, examined what you are doing, and asked yourself how can I get better?

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Category: God  Tags: , , ,  3 Comments

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